The Dresden Flies: Molly vs The Equestria Girls
by Skye Silverwing
Summary: When a teen from Canterlot High approaches Harry Dresden to help her find a missing friend, there is only one Padawan that will be up to the challenge.


The Dresden Files: Molly vs the Equestria Girls.

By Skye Silverwing.

Chapter 1: A new job.

The Paranet was a complex arrangement of those who had some small measure of magical ability, built to help them learn to protect themselves and seek help, if needed, from Supernatural threats. Through it, Victims of Supernatural threats could call for help from each other, and nearly a dozen of the Heavy-hitters of the Supernatural community.

It was through the Paranet that Harry Dresden, one of the most famous, or perhaps infamous, Wizards in the world, had been contacted by a potential client.

She gave her name as Bonbon, though that was not surprising, since anyone who knew a little about Wizards knew that they could do all sorts of bad things to you if they have your real name from your own mouth. She was young. Perhaps sixteen. And her hair was an odd combination of Pink and a deep purple, complimenting her bright blue eyes. She wore a somewhat utilitarian skirt and top, which were marked with what appeared to be old flour stains.

Harry gave her a reassuring smile as she settled into one of the chairs opposite him. "Alright, Miss… Bonbon, is it?" he said, "Why don't you tell me why you are here?"

Bonbon nodded. "O-okay…" she said nervously. "I am here… Because several months ago, my best friend, Lyra, disappeared."

Harry frowned, slightly. "People go missing all of the time, Miss Bonbon." He said, trying not to sound dismissive. "Typically, if they are not found within a few days, there is nothing to find. Sometimes they just don't want to be found, and sometimes they can't. What makes you think that your friend is still out there to be found?"

Bonbon held up a file folder. "Because after Lyra disappeared, I did everything I could to find her." She said, "I followed leads, and talked to everyone who I believed might have seen her before she vanished. Everything pointed to her having been at School- Canterlot High School- when it happened. So I looked up information of disappearances at the school and this is what I found."

Bonbon set the folder down on the desk and Harry opened it. Inside, there were dozens of old police reports and cold case files from the City of Canterlot. Disappearances going back over 150 years. In some of the files, the missing student was found within a day or two of their disappearances with no memory of the time they had been gone, in others the student was never found.

Individually, these reports might have been easy to sweep under the rug, but when taken as a whole, it was easy to tell that there was something suspicious going on. If those pages were correct, there could be some sort of serial Kidnapper or Serial killer loose in the City of Canterlot, preying on the Highschool specifically.

Harry looked up at the girl. "Have you taken this to the authorities?" he asked.

Bonbon nodded. "Yes, but they claim that they have no time to follow up on 'events that are not necessarily related.'" She gave a frustrated sigh. "The details are too similar, though. I am sure that whatever is behind this took Lyra, too."

The stack of reports shifted slightly on the desk, and Harry's eyes narrowed for a moment, then he looked back at Bonbon. "So you figured it had to be something supernatural, and that led you to the paranet?" he asked.

Bonbon nodded. "They told me that in this part of the United States, you were the one to go to about things like this." She replied. "Can you help me?"

Harry nodded. "I will see what I can do. My standard Rates are fifty dollars per hour, plus expenses, but if you cannot afford that, I am sure we will be able to work something out."

Bonbon nodded. "I can afford it, if I try." She said, "I work at a Bakery in Canterlot. It is only part-time, but it's not like I have any other bills."

Harry nodded and ushered her to the door. "Alright, then, I'll start looking into it as soon as I can." He said.

Once Bonbon had departed, Harry turned back to the seemingly empty office. "Molly." He grated. "I thought I told you not to spy on my clients."

A sigh came seemingly from nowhere and Molly Carpenter Appeared beside Harry's desk. "I know, I know." She said, "But I am your apprentice, and I want to be involved in the Detective-y parts of this business, too."

Harry sighed. "I told you, you have a lot you need to learn before you can really help me on my cases." He said, "You don't even have your GED yet."

Molly looked at Harry with a bit of frustration in her eyes. "But… That takes a lot of work, and I dropped out of Highschool when I was sixteen." She complained, then she gestured to the folder on the desk. "I am your apprentice, so I need to learn this stuff if I am going to be a Professional Wizard like you."

Harry sighed. "Right." He said, "For now, you head back home and tell your dad I said to work on your restraint while under a veil some more. You shifted that paper right in front of me, Padawan."

Molly grumbled a bit, and departed.

After she had gone, Harry looked over the pages again. There was a pattern to all of this. He could feel it. It was not his magical senses, but those he had honed over years of being a Private Investigator. He knew there was a pattern, but he just did not have enough brains to figure it out.

Fortunately, he knew someone who did.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

"What do you think, Bob?" Harry asked, looking at the skull as he perused the stack of files.

Bob's eyelights flickered annoyedly. "I think you are using me for a calculator again." He said with a sigh. "You were right, though. There is a pattern. All of the abductions match the same perameters, and can be grouped situations when the abductee came back, and situations when they did not. There is also a correlation with the dates. There is a definite pattern indicating three days of activity to about thirty days of down time. All of the permanent vanishings, including this Lyra, are consentrated on the third active day."

Harry listened carefully as Bob spoke. "Any idea what it could be?" He asked when he was done.

Bob pondered for a moment. "Well, it could be any of a number of things really. A ritualistic Serial killer is the mundane answer, or it could be a Supernatural Baddy that operates on that kind of time scale, but to me, it feels like a portal."

Harry looked at Bob. "What makes you say that?" He asked.

Bob's skull shifted slightly. "The ones that come back have all memory of the day missing." He said, "According to this one, the victim vanished in the evening of the first day and reappeared on the second. He was reported as being confused as to why he woke up at school, instead of in his bed, and was unaware of the day having passed. He lost the whole day. It reeks of someone on the other side erasing memories to hide their own existence."

Harry thought about that for a moment. "So… those that don't come back are just missing the bus? No time to 'Flashy thing' them before the portal closes?" he asked, using an MIB reference.

Bob's eyelights flickered. "That's my take on it." He said. "And if it is a portal, then it is someplace in that school."

Harry looked at the stack of reports. "So all those kids could be in danger of falling through the Portal into the Nevernever somewhere in their school?" he asked.

Bob gave a marginal approximation of a shrug. "Maybe." He said, "But it is not like the Portal is anywhere where Students might regularly walk through it. If it were, we would have heard about it by now."

Harry thought about it for several minutes and then looked at Bob. "So it is a high likelihood that there is a portal somewhere on the campus on that is well-hidden enough that most students won't fall through it, but still there so that some students might?" he clarified.

Bob's Skull nodded slightly. "Though, I would go more like a moderate likelihood." He said, "There are enough other possible things it could be that this being the most likely does not mean it is very high in likelihood…"

Harry shrugged. "Nevermind that." He said, "It still probably means kids in danger. When is the next time that conditions will be right for the portal to open?"

Bob thought for a moment. "Later this week." He said. "Wednesday will be day 1."

Harry glanced at the calendar on the wall. "Tomorrow is Monday, so we have about five days to infiltrate the school, find the portal, go through, threaten or bargain with whoever is on the other side into releasing Lyra, and then find a way to close the portal permanently, so it can't threaten anyone again." He summarized.

Bob's eye lights gazed at Harry intently. "Sounds like a plan." He said, "Though, if I might ask, how do you intend to infiltrate the school, Harry? You aren't exactly Faculty material, and no way are you passing for a student."

Harry smiled at Bob. "I know just the Padawan for the job."

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

"You want me to _what_?" Molly grated.

Harry smiled at his apprentice. "I just want you to find the portal, Padawan." He said, "Preferably without drawing attention to yourself. That is why you are going as a student."

Molly stamped her foot. "I can't go back into that drama-filled gulag they call a school system!" she said, "I will go crazy! I will flip out inside of a week!"

Harry chuckled slightly. "Then it is in your best interest to find the portal as soon as possible." He replied.

Molly glared at him. "Why are you doing this to me?" she asked.

Harry looked her in the eyes. "You wanted to be involved in the 'detective-y' side of things." He said simply, "And High-Schoolers or not, those kids are in danger. I would do it if I could, but the fact is, I am far too old to pose as a student and I won't be able to get on as faculty soon enough."

Molly thought on that for a few moments. Then she looked at the picture Bonbon had given Harry of Bonbon and Lyra together and thought about her own friends from school. She hung her head in defeat. "Alright." She said, "I'll do it."

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.


End file.
